Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
What if something goes wrong? What if Mercier finds Keith and he’s a wonderful guy? What if we don’t get approved to raise the boys?
I didn’t voice my fears out loud because I knew what Joel would say. He’d always been braver than me.
If we didn’t try, it was definitely not going to work. If we didn’t put ourselves out there and do everything we could to give those boys a future, they’d for certain slip through our fingers and end up in another foster family. Maybe they’d even be separated.
“I love you,” I murmured hoarsely. “I’m scared shitless something will go wrong, but don’t stop callin’ me out.”
He gathered my hands in his and kissed them. “That’s parenthood. Constantly being afraid—it’s amazing.”
I exhaled a laugh and kissed his neck.
We were gonna try. I’d talk to Mercier later.
The Quinns and the Tenleys landed shortly before three and arrived together, about a minute or two before Crew and Mercier. Gray and Darius had brought their eldest boy, Jayden, and Ryan had flown down with his eldest daughter, Abby.
Jayden and Abby showing up lured Nicky out of his gaming cave, and the three joined Blake and Mattie at the pool.
Julian was also quick to leave the couch and jump up into Joel’s arms. He’d bounce between Joel and me for the next few hours until he felt ready to explore on his own again. The boy was funny, ’cause he never wanted to hide; he wanted to be where the action was, just in the safety of Joel’s arms or mine. He was so curious about the world.
“Darius, I have something for you,” I said. I went over to the supply chest next to the patio, where I grabbed a basket. “Make plans for eating a lot of guacamole when you get home. Fill this with avocados. Hell, fill two.”
He barked out a laugh, whereas Gray’s eyes flashed with excitement.
“Actually, this is great—knucklehead, you can go fill it up right now.” Darius chuckled and handed the basket to Gray. “I don’t wanna forget.”
“Sure.” Gray smiled and shrugged.
I lifted a brow as he left, a little curious. I could tell when Darius had ulterior motives.
Darius smirked. “Just doin’ Reese a favor. He wanted the youngsters away from the pool so he—” He stopped abruptly, and his attention was caught by something by the pool. I looked over just in time to see Reese running up behind Shay and Crew. A second later, Reese was pushing his boy into the water, conveniently with Crew in the splash zone. “So he could do that,” Darius finished.
I cracked up.
“What the fuck, man!” Crew yelled. “Do you know how much these shoes cost in gold?”
For the love of—
“No, tell me.” Reese flinched forward and shoved Crew into the water too.
To be fair, the kid had asked for it.
I would’ve done the same thing.
Excellent start to our do-over barbecue.
The drenched puppy glares Shay and Crew sent Reese were just fantastic.
“Beeeeeep!”
“Julian comin’ through, El!” Joel hollered.
I set the plate of meat next to the grill and watched Julian pummel his way across the patio, between Ryan and Mercier, between Nicky and Abby, between Gray and Jayden, and between the half-naked Shay and Crew, who were down to boxer shorts after their swim.
Julian jumped, and I caught him. I guessed it was my turn with the little monkey.
“How you doin’, champ?” I kissed his cheek and positioned him on my hip.
“Beep, beep,” he said with a grin.
My little clown. “I think you can say good.” I’d heard him say both no and hi to Nicky and Mattie; he was just shy and working his way through months of anxiety. And what the head doctor had theorized: having been ordered to keep quiet, whether it was by Keith or the motherfuckers who’d held him hostage.
Julian’s sheepish grin said it all. He was plenty relaxed, maybe a little too relaxed, with that one thing. Saying beep was comfortable.
I bumped my forehead to his, and he giggled.
“Good,” he said.
There we go.
Christ, it was insane how proud I suddenly felt. A warmth enveloped my chest, and I had half a mind to get up on the table and tell everyone what he’d just said.
“Great job, sweetheart. That was really great.” I pressed my lips to the side of his head, and he beamed.
“What, no red carpet for us?” And welcome to the stage, Danny Payne.
“There he is!” Reese went over to greet the new arrivals, and that included Emerson and Coach.
Tariq should’ve been here. Damn, I missed him.
Dante was supposed to be here, but he couldn’t get away from work. Same with Cullen—and Greer was in Europe with his family, according to Crew.
I signaled to Emerson that I’d greet them later with a gesture at Julian. I didn’t wanna overwhelm him.
Despite that we all wanted this do-over, a celebration of what we’d accomplished, a moment to finally smoke that cigar, everyone knew tonight was different. Shay glanced around the patio and up the hill every now and then, no doubt thinking back on the last time he’d been here.